KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians now live in peaceful times, but a veteran Special Branch officer remembers when peace was only a dream which security forces were working to realise for the nation.

S. Sritharan has dedicated nearly 40 years of his life to serve the country.

Having been involved in various secret assignments, he spent most of the 1980s in undercover operations, monitoring communist insurgents in the jungle.

He even played a part in taking down the notorious killer P. Kalimuthu, also known as Bentong Kali, in 1993.

Having retired in March 2018, Sritharan said he was proud to sacrifice more than half of his life to keep the country safe.

"It was very different then. The current generation only knows peace. Many of them do not know the value of the peace they are enjoying now."

He was telling the New Straits Timesabout his service at his home here recently as the nation celebrates National Day and Malaysia Day.

Sritharan, who joined the police in 1978, was first posted to the 21st Battalion of the Police Field Force, now known as the General Operations Force, after completing the basic constable course.

"After my basic training, they sent me to the Ulu Kinta Police Field Force Training School, where we had to learn jungle warfare before being deployed to the 21st Battalion in Triang, Pahang.

"I then joined the 3rd Platoon in the battalion. It was like an elite platoon. Whenever there was any communist activity, we were the first to be deployed," he said.

He then interviewed to join the elite F Team along with his friends in 1983.

"At that time, my battalion commanding officer told us about the F Team, so we went. They interviewed four of us from a group of five.

"Out of the four, only three were selected. So, in 1983, I joined the F Team in Kuala Lumpur."

Sritharan's mettle was tested when he was sent for anundercover mission in an estate in Mentakab, Pahang.

Posing as a worker, he was tasked with gathering intelligence on communists.

During his 11-month mission, he carefully built trust with the insurgents while secretly reporting on their movements.

Then, an ambush was planned, in which Sritharan and his team waited at a fertiliser store to nab the communist leader and his followers.

However, the situation escalated when one of the communists reached for a grenade.

The police team had to open fire, killing the leader, his right-hand man and two female accomplices.

It was also during the mission in the estate that Sritharan met his wife, who was the daughter of the foreman.

When the mission was declassified in 2016, it came as a shock to Sritharan's family.

"My son, everyone was very shocked!

"My family was also shocked because when I married my wife, I told my mother that I was doing some job (in the estate). I did not reveal deeper than that. Just the surface only," he said.

Sritharan said he had been enjoying his retirement.

"At first, I was sad whenever the thought of retirement came up. Thankfully the age kept increasing while I was on duty, so I could continue working until 60.

"Now I get to spend time more time with my wife, children and grandkids. I also get to go for walks and meet up with my buddies from the force every now and then," he said.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/09/1101422/proud-sacrifice-todays-peace